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“India should become a natural host for
prestigious events. But that can’t happen
until international companies can
operate there confident that a deal is a
deal and a contract will be honoured.”
KEVIN ROBERTS ON THE DIFFICULTIES INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES ARE
EXPERIENCING IN DELHI AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN SPONSORSHIP.
IT’S NOW LESS than a month before the Commonwealth
Games are due to get under way in Delhi.
It should be a time of celebration for sport in India and
the country’s National Olympic Committee says it intends
to make a bid to stage the Olympic Games, with Delhi
2010 portrayed as a stepping stone towards The Big One.
But with Olympic bid campaigns costing anything
upwards of $100 million, they might consider better ways
of spending their cash. Because, as things stand, you
would have to be very brave to predict Delhi landing any
major sports event in the foreseeable future.
It’s not simply that construction of facilities and
infrastructure for the Delhi Commonwealth Games has
gone right down to the wire - we’ve seen that before,
notably with Athens in 2004.
More significantly it is about the atmosphere of
exasperation, fear and distrust which has developed
around the experience of the major international sports
sector consultancies working on the Commonwealth
Games and other projects in India.
IMG, World Sports Group (WSG), Sports Marketing
and Management (SMAM) and Great Big Events are
among the companies which have encountered problems.
IMG, which had done so much to establish and operate
the Indian Premier League, had its contract arbitrarily
cancelled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India
in what appeared to be an internal power-struggle while
WSG had its IPL rights sales contract axed.
SMAM could take a massive bath over its involvement
in the Commonwealth Games after being axed from its
sponsorship sales role despite bringing in $85 million,
while Great Big Events - an acknowledged leader in sports
event presentation and ceremonies - was reported to be
off the project as SportBusiness International went to press.
Even Fast Track, which is selling the Games’ TV rights, has
had its name dragged through the press after allegations -
vehemently denied - it had been handed the contract without
going through a rigorous selection process (see pp. 12-13).
With its massive population, booming economy and
democratic tradition, India should be set on becoming
a major power in sport and a natural host for many
prestigious major events. But it is difficult to see how that
can happen until international companies can operate there
without feeling like they are battling through a quagmire
of bureaucracy and hostility, and with the confidence that a
deal really is a deal and that a contract will be honoured.
There are, of course, massive differences in business
culture between nations and it would be naïve to assume
international best practice is universally followed. But in
sport, as in other sectors, those who work internationally
are able to adjust to local conditions and expectations.
This doesn’t seem to have been the case in Delhi, where
international businesses have been left not simply frustrated
but surprised and shaken at what they have encountered.
Delhi 2010 really was an opportunity for India to
demonstrate its ability to deliver major international sports
events but in reality they have blown it. As ever, the public
will lose sight of these issues once the competition starts
and we can only join the organisers in hoping for some great
performances and a true celebration of the best in sport.
But once the lights go out after the closing ceremony, it
will take some time for the commercial sports world to get
the bitter taste out of its mouth and that could well affect
the world’s appetite for taking events to India.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Congratulations to Deepdale Solutions, providers of
‘creative solutions in aluminium and glass’ and the first of
a new generation of shirt sponsors of big (ish) spending
English Championship football club Middlesbrough.
Boro’s commercial department looked for a creative
solution when Garmin satellite navigation decided not to
renew its shirt deal. They came up with the idea of selling
the space in 10 monthly blocks for rest of the season.
We don’t know whether the cumulative sponsorship take
will be greater than expectations from a single deal, but it
does represent a willingness to think beyond the established
orthodoxy of one sponsor, one shirt, one season.
Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has also
expanded its sponsorship inventory by selling shirt space for
league matches to one brand, and cup games for another.
The trend raises a number of issues. How will parents
of Boro fans respond to the pester power of their offspring
when they demand their tenth replica shirt of the year? And
what sort of financial structure did Spurs put in place for its
cup shirt deal which could deliver as few as four matches?
Should this trend continue, there may be some value
in considering pooling the shirt sponsorship rights for
lower league teams playing away from home. This would
provide an opportunity for a national or international
brand to reinforce its presence in football without seriously
detracting from the visibility of the home shirt sponsors,
which are generally local businesses anxious for visibility
within a relatively small and well-defined area.
SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10 7